- Recreating a majestic fighter of WW2

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In an effort to be a bit more transparent and show progress I thought I'd start a gallery for our work in CAD (Computer Aided Design).

My original contact with the project last year was through the open call for artists to produce works that could help promote the project. I was on the look out for a new project and thought I could produce some interesting stuff in CGI (CGI illustration being my day job). Little did I know how much more I'd get involved.

For that reason a complete virtual Whirlwind, right down to stuff that is available "off the shelf" as it were is being reproduced in CGI. This effort does have one particular benefit in that much of the Whirlwind is still without any concrete measurements. Yet building in the computer the bits we do have allows us to compare and overlay with photographs to infer the rest. It won't be %100 precise, but it will be better than guesswork alone.

So with that in mind, please consider the CAD gallery.

First off is the recently acquired AH2040 spade grip. Alan Hulme had kindly sent me drawings for the grip but all important casting information was missing, so getting my hands on one to laser scan into the computer for a virtual pattern was the best way to go. If reproduction grips can't be found (AH2040 grips seem to be much less popular than their Spitfire counterparts) then this could provide a means of fabricating new ones.

It must be appearances only because I have a replica spit grip here and it's near identical in terms of overall shape. Indeed it should pretty much be the same, the main difference being the cable running into the column rather than running down the outside as on the 2040.

We don't have any drawings of the frames, at the moment. My best source for that is the Wind Tunnel plans which so far appears to be reasonably accurate. Comparison with known measurements has suggested it should be accurate to less than half a centimetre, which isn't bad. All other details pertaining to the frames will have to be obtained from photos in the AP and written descriptions.

Progress looking very good guys I am impressed cant wait to get the drawings so we can start cutting and rivetting metal.

I assume we are still on with the original plot with production drawings for us these being rear fuselage and tail and the centre section and nose to be followed by the cockpit area and then finally outer wings ??.

Some of the drawings we have already we could build a nose area and front bulkhead but it would only be a tiny part of the fuselage and I feel we need to work on a more substantial part so hanging fire for the rear fuselage as that will be a realy impressive section once we start to assemble it..

Agreed - it will look good at our stand and should convince a lot of people that we are serious. However, I think the CAD chaps still have a few 'grey' areas to sort out, though I can't speak for them. Rear fuselage might be resolved fairly soon - but tail might have to wait a little while as there are many questions around tail surfaces to answer.

But, we're getting there. I agree to finishing the rear fuselage first, it contains fewest parts and is a large part of the aircraft. At the moment we are putting the overall shape together, to serve as a basis for reverse engineering the structure underneath. Using this 'under skin' surface gives us the necesary information, along with photos and descriptions in manuals to build the structure. Comparison to photos confirms the design. In fact, the image below gave the frame dimension for the front support frame for the tail to be 3", not the 2" I thought it could be at first. The other frames are 4". Looking at the comparison gave the answer.